Paul Aboyomi Ogundeji

ThisDay

August 16, 2008, in Dopemu, Nigeria

Ogundeji, a member of the editorial board of the daily ThisDay, was shot in his car by
unidentified gunmen in Dopemu, a suburb of Lagos, at 10:30 p.m., according to news accounts and CPJ interviews. Police said in a statement that robbers
ambushed Ogundeji, shooting him after he refused to step out of his car. Nothing
was taken from Ogundeji's vehicle, police said.

A conflicting account emerged in news accounts. A purported eyewitness told local news outlets that men in police uniforms stopped Ogundeji's car at a roadblock. When Ogundeji refused to open his car door, the person said, the men shot him

The subsequent police investigations into the murder yielded
no arrests or concrete conclusions, according to Sam Amuka-Pemu, the head of
the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria.

A veteran journalist, Ogundeji had been working for the Lagos based newspaper ThisDay for three months. He previously
worked at publications such as The
Nigerian Compass, Punch, and The Guardian. He also worked as the chief
press secretary to the former Lagos
state deputy governor.

Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.